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The never ending quest for a proper home for the Oakland Athletics.

C.J. Wilson Appreciation Night

I’m at the yard early. As you would expect, the field is pretty torn up after last night’s Raiders game. Here’s the evidence.

Hopefully the crowd is large and lustfully booing our not-so-new nemesis, Texas Rangers hurler C.J. Wilson. I’ll do my part. It’s good to have the boys back. It’s good to be back.

For this homestand, I’ve decided the official song for the blog is “Oh Sherrie” by Steve Perry. Dig into the lyrics, and you might find a metaphor for our Athletics, ownership, and us fans. Enjoy the game. (Yes, I know that Perry is a Giants fan who sold out for the White Sox in ’05. It’s a freaking pop song. Lighten up Francis.)

@eb–that’s how our year is going. It was so embarassing tonight. We looked horrible all the way around. Decent crowd for a Friday with 20, 288. Can’t beat the better teams like TX, Bos, NYY. I don’t consider SF a very good team, but it was nice to sweep them.

Being that there was only 25k at the Raider game last night (actually maybe 15k showed up), they should of left the outfield alone and not add the seats which killed/tore the grass up. Just sell Mt. Davis and baseball side seats for the two pre-season games, and maybe the rest of the season if things don’t look good.

@kevin – Thanks, and please don’t be shy. It was just me, my blog-partner-in-crime, Jeff, and his brother, Kevin on what turned out to be an impromptu guy’s night out. Good times despite the game result.

re: Being that there was only 25k at the Raider game last night (actually maybe 15k showed up), they should of left the outfield alone and not add the seats which killed/tore the grass up.

…this is a great idea. They had to know they weren’t going to need even the 50,000 seats they have before airlifting the seats from the parking lot. But we know who owns the hearts of the city and county, and it’s the Raiders, not the A’s

…only a few more months and the A’s are the only team in baseball still sharing a stadium with an NFL football team. (I think the Blue Jays share a building with a CFL team – should the Bills ever move to Toronto, then the A’s would have a partner in misery.) In case anyone doesn’t know the other team, the Marlins and Dolphins share a building. But that ends for good in October.

Back to the deplorable condition of our field and the fact that come October we’re the last teams sharing other than Toronto. Toronto however may share their stadium, but since it’s fake grass it doesn’t suffer like ours does during the CFL use.

@Dan: good point regarding the Jays and Args. I look at it this way however: if the A’s find a way to get a park within this decade or even the next, the Jays will be in the oldest stadium of all 30 teams, as well as the last multi-purpose one (sharing w/a football team anyway). They were the first to get a “new” one back in ’89, and after (hopefully) the A’s get theirs, it might seem a little embarrassing up there. Yeah, they have the retractable roof, restaurants and all, but it is still not what seems like a baseball-friendly yard with the extra foul territory (CFL fields are 110 yards and some with larger end-zones) and enclosed. I like the parks with open views of downtown, or at least a few tall skyscrapers to make it seem close. Seeing the CN tower is cool, but the enclosure somewhat hurts. I relate this to Mt Davis, even though it blocked the hills and not a downtown skyline.

@Dinosaur Jr. – The Jays got SkyDome for practically free a few years ago after the stadium fell into bankruptcy. The team, owned by communications giant Rogers, has zero debt load and rakes in the dough from its domination of the Canadian TV market. Rogers isn’t moving the team anywhere.

can’t wait to see what is written about AT&T after my Bears rip that field to shreds! Some people on this site talk about the indignity of having a football team “ruin” a baseball field. How Oakland is in the “dark ages” having a football team play on a baseball field, etc.

can’t wait to see what is written about AT&T after my Bears rip that field to shreds! Some people on this site talk about the indignity of having a football team “ruin” a baseball field. How Oakland is in the “dark ages” having a football team play on a baseball field, etc.

Oh! So I guess it’s OK for the A’s and Raiders to share the decrepit Coliseum for eternity (the Bears will be playing at AT&T Park, how could we be so foolish!).

David, while it will be funny this year to not be the only team getting their field torn up in the Bay Area it doesn’t change the fact that what REALLY kills ours is the giant grandstand that sticks off the front of Mt Davis. They won’t have that problem over at Pac Bell because they only have that small temporary grandstand they put out during football games. Still that’s one thing I’d hope Cisco Field wherever it’s built, has written into a lease if city owned or written into some unspoken guideline if private, no football. The city or team insisted on it down in San Diego and as a result there has never been a football game played at PETCO Park despite it’s prime location, and if the agreement holds there never will be. And the field is gorgeous almost year round as a result.

@Dinosaur Jr. – Both SkyDome and Olympic Stadium were unmitigated financial disasters for the Canadian government. They know better than to repeat those mistakes. Besides, there’s a lot more momentum behind bringing more NHL teams north of the border than anything else, and so far the most successful efforts have not involved brand new facilities.

To anyone:Can somebody quantify – in real objective, concrete terms – why the Coliseum is “decrepit?”Other than the enormity of Mt. Davis, the huge need for a ton more bathrooms, what exactly makes the Coliseum “decrepit”?I don’t think it’s “decrepit.” It’s 45 years old but the new clubs built as part of the Raiders return are hardly decrepit. (Not the greatest I suppose but hardly decrepit.”)Frankly, other than the huge eastern expansion (Mt. Davis), the Coliseum would have been acceptable for many years for baseball with continual maintenance and some creative upgrades.Put another way, what makes other, far older stadiums charming but the Coliseum is decrepit?(Other than Mt. Davis I mean).A’s observer.

-Cracking worn concrete over the entire western half
-Insufficient club amenities that are far below modern standards
-Insufficient team amenities under the stadium
-Leaky old pipes stadium wide
-Disgusting worn out bathrooms
-Poor sight lines from almost every seat in the stadium
-Scoreboards that are literally out of parts and far too small
-A crap sound system
-Dark, dingy, and far too small concourse that has terrible traffic flow
-No concourse view since those fences were put up for the Raiders

Basically spend any time in one of the newer stadiums and you can see why the Coliseum is both structurally insufficient, and falling apart.

The Coliseum was going to be renovated baseball only in the same fashion as Anaheim Stadium. But of course Mt. Davis killed all of that and any future renovation because of the need for the seats to be further away from the baseball field for football.

Anaheim would be what we can all imagine what the Coliseum would have looked like had the Coliseum Authority not back stabbed the A’s.

The renovation would have been far cheaper than Mt. Davis and provided the A’s with a ballpark at least able to compete on some level with the Giants.

I think that event alone is why Oakland and the A’s can never come together again for a ballpark.

Since we don’t want to send anyone over to ATT Park, anyone who wants to know what a modern sports facility should look like compared to the Coliseum should visit San Jose’s arena (the circus is in town this week, which might be a good reason to go). There’s no troths in the men’s room, no rust stains, etc. It’s not a baseball facility but it’s a modern building.

@Sid–a basebal only makeover would of been better than what we got now for the last 15 years, but it would still fall short in the long run against the new MLB parks. People would still complain about the area where it’s located, still too far from the action, cramped concourse, etc…In the meantime,
get those new scoreboards put in for next year and that would be a big improvement right there.

@jk-usa- Of course the renovation would be far better than what is there now of course….Cannot disagree with you on that one.

They were going to move the seats much closer to the field and re-do the entire outfield bleachers and add a bunch of premium seating behind home plate and along 1st and 3rd base.

In that scenario the A’s would get better attendance, probably be at least at the middle of the pack and not in the bottom 1/3 considering how many good teams they had with Schott and Hoffman as owners.

@Sid–i read the Newhouse piece earlier this morning. I was going to post it on here it but am sick and tired of getting beat up by the pro-SJ crowd. I wish BS would take Dave up on his offer. It may open up his eyes and mind up a bit. Take LW along for the ride too. Selig’s only been here once (this year) I hear since he’s been commish since 1992. So what if SJ is twice the size of Oakland? St.Louis has a population even smaller than Oakland’s and shrinking yearly, and they have no problem drawing. It’s the population (and income) within 20-30 miles of the venue, and Oakland has plenty of that. You have the booming Contra Costa area, the north bay, even SF close by.
Good ownership+ competitive team +nice venue + great baseball tradition=success at gate.
We only have 1 of those at the moment, and it’s not the first 3..
That last comment about Newhouse was uncalled for. I’m much kinder to LW. Just want him to sell or retire.

@jk-usa- Your points would be correct if the Giants didn’t play 12 miles way in a jewel of a ballpark. Does St. Louis have 2 teams that are 12 miles apart? Ask the Warriors how it is having no competition for fans? They can suck and be top 10 in attendance in the league.

That is the problem with Newhouse’s argument. Building so close to the Giants is a big problem he ignores. The A’s need to get further away and he does not mention where the $$ will come from to build?

If the A’s were the only team in the Bay Area then you and Newhouse are “spot on”. If they were then SF and SJ would be open to them and that is where they would be….harsh but true reality.

If Oakland can give the A’s a publicly subsidized ballpark I am all for it. It would solve the problem and we can all move on….But that is not happening. Oakland is giving the same deal to the A’s as San Jose….Here is the land, go for it! That works in SJ because of $$ from the corporations not in Oakland where the Giants have cannibalized all the corporate dollars.

Hence why Selig delays…..He wants the A’s out of the Bay Area. He hates them as you and Newhouse pointed out earlier.

Selig will not let the team go into debt privately financing a ballpark in Oakland and he won’t let them do it in San Jose either as evidenced by the 883 day delay…..The clock is ticking.

.
“Come Out And Play” from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Sept. 11 at the Fourth Street Summit Center, 88 S. Fourth Street in San Jose. “Come Out And Play” allows attendees to mix and mingle with players, alumni and team management from the San Jose Sharks, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Athletics and San Jose Earthquakes. The event will be hosted by NBC 11 Weeknight News Anchor and Sports Contributor Raj Mathai.”
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Sharks, Niners, A’s and Earthquakes. All the “South Bay” teams?

@Steve–it’s Sept.6, not Sept. 11. The A’s are in TX on 9/11 getting their asses whooped that day. I’m sure if they could of scheduled this around when the Giants were at home they would of to get bigger crowds. $100? Wonder where that money’s going to? I hope it’s for charity but t doesn’t say. I’ll pass. They’ll probably just have Breslow, Magnuson and Fuentes representing the A’s.